Now that Jenson Button has won a grand prix, he can offer a double-edged V-sign to the dissenters who have long accused him of putting Formula One fripperies ahead of results. Few have doubted his talent, but many more believe it all went wrong when he got his drive with Williams and began spending like the last of the old-school playboys.

English Puritanism decreed that this was a bad thing because heroes should pay their dues rather than £1.2 million for a boat. James Hunt had something similar in the 1970s, sniffy types feeling that he did not take his sport seriously enough because he did not bother with shoes, smoked pot in Marbella and wore a badge that proclaimed “Sex — Breakfast of Champions”. But Hunt was the champion in 1976, so was excused his eating habits.

Button’s detractors have long undermined him by contrasting his methods with Michael Schumacher’s anodyne perfectionism. Flavio Briatore, his former boss at Benetton, once said: “He needed to spend time with his engineers rather than rushing out to have his picture taken for a lifestyle magazine.” This was somewhat rich given Briatore’s own interests, including a beach club in Tuscany, the Billionaire clothing brand and assorted supermodels.

Last year Button called off his wedding to Louise Griffiths, a former Fame Academy contestant, and has since been linked to photogenic types such as Rose McGowan and Florence Brudenell-Bruce. In the old days, Button’s father was quoted as saying his son was “auditioning for a new girlfriend” and favoured the chat-up line: “I’m going to Monaco to look at flats, want to come?”

The flat duly came, as did the £2 million mansion on a private estate in Surrey and a property in Bahrain. The Sunday Times Rich List believes that Button is worth £20 million but you can double that. His salary at Honda is £6 million a year and he spent an estimated £15 million freeing himself from his Williams contract.

He has made mistakes — the Williams saga did him no favours and going 144mph on a French motorway in 2000 was daft and dangerous — but his dedication is unquestioned by those who look beyond The Sun and its Shagger Of The Year award. “I’m a young guy,” he once said. “What am I supposed to do — go home and read Shakespeare?”

Button should savour his vindication, flick his V-sign and continue to enjoy the fripperies. After all, it did not take Hunt long to make the transformation from hedonistic hero with playboy looks to budgie breeder with battered Austin A35.

* Copyright: George Best, to whom it did happen